Guard who failed to open shelter during missile strike to face new Communist support count

Prosecutors are bringing additional charges against a Kyiv clinic guard after three people died when he allegedly failed to open the shelter during a June 1 Russian missile attack. The new charge concerns spreading communist symbols, Nadiya Maksymets, spokesperson for the Kyiv Prosecutor's Office, told LIGA.net.

Prosecutors prepared new charges accusing the guard Vadym Moshkin of spreading banned communist symbols and promoting the communist regime, Maksymets stated. She expects charges to be served "in the near future."

Moshkin came to law enforcement's attention in February 2023, Maksymets noted.

"The district prosecutor received materials from the SBU about a group in Kyiv promoting the banned communist regime and using banned communist symbols," she explained. The group included Moshkin's wife, who allegedly still considers herself a USSR citizen and calls Ukrainian independence "illegal." Moshkin allegedly views Russia's invasion as "liberation."

"There is evidence the group, including the clinic guard, repeatedly demanded debt waivers from utilities, claiming they are USSR followers with Soviet citizenship and Ukrainian independence is void," Maksymets said.

The SBU investigated group members, interviewing utilities workers to whom they sent formal statements containing banned communist symbols, Soviet stars, and more. Documents relating to the case were found during Moshkin's June 1 search, tied to the closed shelter probe.

Maksimets stressed this is a separate case that doesn't relate to the June 1 tragedy – "it just coincided."

In the early hours of June 1, Russia again attacked Kyiv with ballistic missiles. All targets were shot down by anti-aircraft defenses, but destruction and casualties could not be avoided due to falling debris. Among the dead is a child.

Three people died in the Desnianskyi district. One of the residents, whose wife died, said that the shelter to which people ran during the air raid alert was closed.

On June 2, four persons were charged – the first deputy head of the Desnianskyi District State Administration, the director of the medical facility, and his deputy, as well as the security guard.

On June 3, the court confined the director of the polyclinic, the deputy director of the polyclinic, and the first deputy head of the Desnianskyi District State Administration to round-the-clock house arrest. The court orderd the guard of the polyclinic to be held in custody for two months without bail.